6/29/05
Softball: Recurrent Musings on Colonial Athletics
Dear People,
In a fiercely fought pitcher’s duel, Ellen’s team butt-kicked my own 26-19, and even worse, Franklin’s annoying 8th inning pop-up to the 1st base bleachers plummeted directly onto the tip of my tiny little ‘f-you’ finger. I must confess that the impact of ball on nail caused me a sudden wave of such excruciating pain that I actually felt faint, but rather than bawl or snivel as I’m wont to do, I quickly recovered with stout manly dignity. Alas, though, this is the digit with which I peck all my writings and because it remains so tender, my suffrance grows as I type these very words. Franklin, of course, will be hearing from my attorney.
In any case, this upcoming weekend marks the 4th of July holiday, and since I figure a lot of you will be leaving the Bay Area, I wasn’t going to organize a game. But then I started thinking about it some more, and I began to remember what I wrote all of you just eight short years ago. Now look, I’m obviously not going to start quoting myself like some sicko narcissistic auteur. Still, before you head off on some touchy-feely camping excursion where the only living things are a bunch of dumb-ass rodentia who wouldn’t know what sovereignty is if it bit them on the ass, maybe you should ponder the following from the Summer of ’97:
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As the 4th approaches, I am reminded of the intense pressures that Jefferson, Adams and Franklin must have felt when they decided to pen that most momentous of definitive divorces, their very lives at stake as cunning little fish-and-chips eating British troops scampered throughout the Pennsylvania bush. These intrepid and indefatigable revolutionaries would have no doubt given anything to play an exciting game of softball, but stuck as they were in the 18th century, they had to settle for yeoman farming and really boring arguments about the nature of mercantilism. I think you see my point. Make that commit. Do it for the children. Do it now. Indeed, the line from Alexander Hamilton to Jackie Robinson to all of you is the very essence of the American experience....
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Yes, it’s eight years later, but given the current state of our national Bozoship, I happen to think those words still retain a certain aerobic resonance. And therefore there will be a game at Codornices this Sunday at 11AM, FOLLOWED BY a yummy 3rd-of-July post-game pot-luck Barbie at Nanci’s house in Emeryville (directions next letter), IF I get enough commits by this Friday morning…Raymond [PS below]
PS: Please let me know if you’re coming to the Barbie (You and yours are all invited). If you are, you should bring your own meat/equivalent for the grill, and you should also let me know what communal contribution you’d like to make. As always, ice, soft drinks, beer, veggies, salads, desserts, breads and cheeses, more ice, casseroles, chips, silverware, napkins, paper towels, condiments for burgers, fruit salad, even more ice, and pan-seared virgin eel with mango chutney are all appropriate contributions.
7/1/05
Softball: The 3rd of July
Dear People,
There will be a game at Codornices this Sunday at 11:00, and as of now there are still three slots left. This week’s field fee is just $2, and that includes the basic intangibles, like clarity of purpose.
There will also be a yummy pot-luck barbecue at Nanci’s house following the game. She lives in a stunning lime-green bungalow with more wainscoting and Je-ne-sais-quoi than most realtors see in a lifetime. It’s at 1012 47th street; Get to San Pablo Avenue and head toward Emeryville, and then turn left on 47th. If you pass the lime-green thing, you’ve gone too far…Raymond 845-7552
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